Religion

If this is your first time in the UK you will find some things different to ‘home' and some things strangely similar. Some things look, taste, feel the same but have different names (‘pants' and ‘trousers') or variations. And in and through all of this you are probably seeking something ‘of home'; or maybe you are looking to experience as many things ‘British' as possible.

Religion is alive and well in the UK ! We do have a lower percentage of the population that consider themselves regular church-goers than in the US or some other countries, but those that do attend are committed. The variety of ‘religions' represented in the UK is as wide as those in the world; and the variety of Christian denominations is just as large and includes Catholic, Anglican/Episcopalian, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and United Reformed denominational churches along with an increasing number that are inter-denominational. Most welcome believers of any other denomination, not being too entrenched in their specific doctrines, and the choice of which church you choose to attend will depend on its style of worship and what it can offer you and your family.

As with any other country, worship styles vary from church to church. They vary from the very large, with thousands at each service, lots of contemporary music, multi-media presentations and upbeat teaching/preaching; to the world-recognised churches like St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral; to smaller, more intimate churches where congregations vary from 500 to 20 and whose worship styles vary from contemporary to traditional.

Along with all of this ‘British-bred' variety there are also some churches who's ministry is aimed at specific sectors of the community – this is particularly so in larger cities like London. Examples are Churches that direct their ministry to the American, Polish, Australian, Welsh, Lutheran, European, Japanese, African, Orthodox or Turkish communities (and there are many more). In these cases you will find worship and fellowship styles that probably more mirror what you may be used to ‘back home', but bear in mind they are likely to be more interdenominational in style to incorporate their congregation's wide backgrounds.

If this is your first time abroad and you are looking to get into a ‘community' for support and friendship, then you can do little better than connect with your local church community. Most churches run active children's and young people's programmes, many offer a wide variety of women's, men's or couples groups (both for friendship/fellowship and bible study); and you should certainly find that you are soon in a ‘community' of people that will help you in your stay in the UK. British churches try to live out Jesus' teachings of helping those who need help and offering friendship to those are struggling to find it in an ‘alien' situation. Bear in mind though, you are going into new situations with people you don't know or who don't know you – so give it some time before trying elsewhere.

There is a story told of a two visitors to a church asking the usher what the church was like. The usher replied “what was your old church like?”. The first visitor replied “it was wonderful, full of warm friendly people willing to help and share the load and who always invited us to join in with things going on”. The usher responded “so you will find it here”. The second visitor replied “it was cold and depressing and no-one spoke to us”. The usher responded “in that case you will probably find us the same”. The message – British churches will be just as warm, inviting and inclusive as you want them to be.

May you enjoy your time in the UK and may God richly bless you and your family.

article submitted by the International Community Church.